


Laundry

by carpetsocks



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Closets, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Happy Ending, Hugs, Maybe OOC, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, see there's a pun there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpetsocks/pseuds/carpetsocks
Summary: Where's the best place to hide from a party?
Relationships: Balthazar Cavendish & Vinnie Dakota
Kudos: 6





	Laundry

Dakota shoved the last bit of his burrito in his mouth. Wasn’t as good as Rita’s, but it was a company party and Rita didn’t do catering.

Overhead the lights were fading from one color to another, and music boomed in the background. Most of the attendees were dressed semi-formally, which he supposed was just another way of showing off. Or maybe it was just what they were comfortable in, like him in his leather jacket and Cavendish in his uniform…

Wait, where _was_ Cavendish? He’d disappeared while Dakota was chatting with Savannah. She’d said that if Dakota ever wanted a new partner, he should go for the agent Cavendish had been blushing over all evening. Hildegard or something, Dakota hadn’t paid that much attention. It was an obvious joke; Savannah knew he liked being Cavendish’s partner. But then Cavendish had gotten all quiet and…

Well crap. He’d probably thought she was serious and went off somewhere to sulk.

He downed the rest of his drink and tossed the cup in the trash. Cavendish couldn’t have gone far, right? Most of the doors in this building were locked, and it was cold and rainy outside. The bass thumped extra loud for a few seconds and he felt it in his chest. Cavendish hated music this loud. Wherever it was quieter, there was a better chance of him finding his partner.

He left the main room and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. There was someone in one of the stalls, but they were wearing red shoes.

Rain pounded against the glass doors to the balcony. Dakota tried a few of the other doors in the hallway, but they were all locked. He was about to give up and head back to the party when there was a thud from behind the door labeled “laundry”.

8:30 at night during a party was a weird time to do laundry.

He tried the doorknob, hoping it was Cavendish and not a couple of agents wanting some alone time. He could play that off though; make a joke or something and then leave.

The lights weren’t on and he heard a startled noise at the sudden intrusion. It was just the right amount of huffy and offended and oh-so-familiar and Dakota grinned. There was his Cavendish.

“Leave.”

Wait was he _crying_?

“Cav, you good?” Dakota could start to make out the shape of his partner, huddled between a laundry hamper and the washer.

“Dakota?” Cavendish sounded surprised.

“Cav, what’s going on?” Dakota stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “Can I turn on a light?”

“No, no, leave. I’m fine!” There was a rising panic in his voice and Dakota felt his way over to where Cavendish was sitting.

“I’m fine!” Cavendish’s voice broke and suddenly, he was sobbing again.

“Whoa, it’s okay.” Dakota plopped down next to his partner and hugged him. Cavendish turned, bawling into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Dakota could hardly make out the apologies through Cavendish’s sobs. His stomach twisted anxiously. He’d never seen Cavendish cry, let alone like this.

He patted Cavendish’s back when the older man started hyperventilating. “Hey, breathe. Passing out won’t do anything.”

There were footsteps outside, and Cavendish shrunk into Dakota’s arms. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. His body was shaking so hard it seemed a miracle he could even sit up.

“What’s going on?” Dakota kept his voice low and calm, rubbing tiny circles in Cavendish’s back as his breathing crept back to normal.

Cavendish sat up just enough to wrap his arms around Dakota’s neck and bury his face into his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“You can’t keep saying that without even telling me what you’re sorry for.” It was meant to be a joke, but it fell flat and Dakota inwardly winced. At least Cavendish wasn’t crying anymore.

“I’m sorry.”

Something clicked in Dakota’s memories and his eyes widened. “Are you apologizing for something, or is that just like a phrase you repeat when you have an anxiety attack to calm yourself down and ground yourself? Because my sister used to do that, but she would always say that it’s gonna be okay, and I was wondering if that was what you…” He realized he was rambling and stopped. Cavendish clung a little tighter to him.

“I’m sorry.”

Dakota returned the hug. “It’s okay, Cav, it really is.”

He could hear Cavendish whispering muffled words into his shoulder as footsteps and shadows passed. He was trying to remember what time the party ended when Cavendish stirred.

“Thank you.”

Dakota nodded as Cavendish pulled away. “You all good now?”

Cavendish nodded, fidgeting with the hem of his uniform. “I’m sorry that you had to see that. It’s hardly professional of me.”

“You don’t gotta stay professional around me. I mean, it’s off hours anyways.”

“I suppose.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dakota rubbed the back of his head. They’d only been partners for six months, and while they’d become some sort of friends, he wouldn’t say they were close by any means.

“No, I’m quite alright.”

Dakota shoved down his curiosity before he made a mistake. “Well, you want to go back to the party then?”

“No.” Cavendish seemed surprised by how tense he sounded. “No…”

“So you just want to chill in the laundry closet until it ends?” Dakota glanced around. It wasn’t a _bad_ laundry closet, from what he could see.

“I want to go home.” Cavendish almost sounded petulant, but his voice shook and there was a pleading edge to it.

“Yeah, sure, that’s no problem.” Dakota stood up and checked his pocket for the keys to their time machine. “I already ate and talked to Savanna-nah, so I’m good.”

“You two are close, yes?”

Dakota shrugged. “We were partners for a mission or two. We catch up when we see each other.”

“I see,” Cavendish murmured.

“What? You sound like you got something else to say.” Which pocket did he put those keys in?

“No…” Cavendish paused for a long moment. “Would you rather be partners with her than me? I understand that I am hardly a top-notch agent, while you and Savannah would most likely make a formidable team.”

“Whoa. Stop right there.” Dakota turned around to face his partner, hands up to stop his train of thought. “One, we stopped being partners for a reason. We don’t want each other as partners. And two, I like being your partner. I’m not gonna ditch unless you do.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Dakota went back to searching his pockets and found them in the first one he had checked.

“Why do you like being my partner? We are hardly evenly matched, and our personalities clash, and…”

Dakota shrugged. “You’re Cavendish, what’re you gonna do? Now come on. Let’s go home.”

Cavendish followed him out of the closet and down the hallways to the exit. Dakota walked fast and kept his head down, hoping no one stopped them. With how hard he had been crying, Cavendish probably looked a mess and didn’t want anyone to see.

The rain let up a bit as they found their car in the dark parking lot. Dakota slid into the driver’s seat and started it effortlessly. He shot a sideways glance at Cavendish. The man rubbed his head with a frown. “Do we have any water in here?”

“Nah, but I’ll drop you off first.” Dakota gunned the car into the timestream and started putting in the coordinates for Cavendish’s apartments.

“Thank you.” Cavendish stuttered a little bit. Poor guy was still upset.

“Here we are!” Dakota put it in park but didn’t turn off the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, partner?” Cavendish didn’t react and he sighed inwardly.

“You good, Cav?”

“Yes.” Cavendish stared down at his hands on his lap, and then suddenly reached for his bag in the backseat. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Eight?”

Dakota gave him a thumbs up and a grin. The briefest hint of a smile flickered across Cavendish’s face. “Good night, Dakota.”

The door closed and Dakota watched as Cavendish disappeared up the steps to his apartment. He hit the radio to make the silence a little less oppressive and jumped back into the timestream.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> If you got thoughts leave comments!


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